The city of Detroit, facing a serious cash crisis, is set to go bankrupt by the end of this year and would put city workers on furlough unless it strikes a deal with the city council that would bring in $30 million before Dec. 14.

Detroit has been in financial turmoil for years, losing a quarter of its population in the past decade and facing a shrinking auto industry that has reduced tax revenues. The Detroit City Council gave the mayor the option to hire a financial advisor and in return receive $30 million by the end of the year.

But the Council on Tuesday voted 8-1 to delay the decision on the deal, which would pay the Miller Canfield Law Firm $300,000 to advise Mayor Dave Bing. The deal would have released $10 million in bond money on Tuesday and another $20 million in December.

The Council decided not to authorize the contract due to suspicions that Miller Canfield has conflicts of interests, since the firm handles other city business. The Council was also concerned that the firms contract may not be legal, since it was not prepared or approved of by the citys chief on-staff lawyer. Council members were also upset that Bing only presented them with one law firm, denying them options to choose from.

"The Councils rejection of the Miller Canfield contract means the city will not receive the first $10 million scheduled for release today, Bing said in a statement. As a result, it will be more difficult for the city to maintain its liquidity until the receipt of property tax revenues beginning in January. Todays vote is one more example of how City Council has stalled our efforts to bring financial stability to the city of Detroit."

Some blame the mayor for the denied funds, claiming that his limited options gave the Council no choice but to reject the proposal.

Why is Mayor Bing putting gthe citys finances at risk by marrying himself to one law firm? City Council President Charles Pugh told reporters.

If a deal cannot be struck within the upcoming weeks, then those who will suffer most are Detroits government employees. Bing plans to put city workers on furlough on Jan. 1 to save cash if fails to receive the much-needed money from the law contract. With a $30 million cash shortfall, the city would temporarily lay off thousands of workers to avoid bankruptcy. The only city workers who would be able to keep working are police officers, firefighters, EMS workers, or employees of departments that raise revenue for the city.

The City Council also rejected a proposed contract to overhaul the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, proposing to cut 81 percent of its workforce in an attempt to save cash.

If we dont stop this, there will be nothing left of the city of Detroit, Michael Mulholland, secretary treasurer of the American Federation of State, Council and Municipal Employees Local 207, told the Detroit Free Press. With a city that has already lost much of its population due to declining jobs, cutting the workforce with furloughs and layoffs is only worsening the crisis. At the current rate, Detroit is set to hit a weekly cash flow of $4.1 million in mid-December and drop to negative $4.8 million at the end of the year.

Prior to the election, "Rolling Stone" magazine ran an article on what America would be like if Romney were elected, and drastic cuts in government funding were rammed through by nasty Republicans. The article opened with the this (I paraphrase): "Want to know what America would look like under President Romney? You can go to Detroit now and see what it would look like."

Yeah. Detroit. It's the Republicans' fault.

7
posted on 11/21/2012 7:26:48 PM PST
by ClearCase_guy
(Global Warming is a religion, and I don't want to be taxed to pay for a faith that is not mine.)

Actually I think much of America is a lot further down that sewer than we realize. Detroit hasn’t been propped up they way many American cities have been. Money has gone to Detroit but there’s been no pretense of doing anything for the city. The money has gone into a few pockets.

Cut the gravy train to Chicago and she’s gonna burn.

13
posted on 11/21/2012 7:32:48 PM PST
by cripplecreek
(REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)

If we dont stop this, there will be nothing left of the city of Detroit, Michael Mulholland, secretary treasurer of the American Federation of State, Council and Municipal Employees Local 207, told the Detroit Free Press.

Michael, enough of this financial stuff! Did you the watch Jerry Springer Show? Opera?

14
posted on 11/21/2012 7:34:03 PM PST
by Mark
(For the first time in my life, I'm no longer proud of my country.)

“The commie lib RATS did a great job with Detroit. I wonder how soon its going to be before the rest of America goes in the sewer.”

Detroit has had “black leadership” since 1974. Coleman Young was the principal architect of the fall of Detroit. He was mayor for some twenty years! Now they have a former NBA basketball player as mayor. They’ve all pandered to the “Free Sh!t Folks,” and you can see where it has gotten them.

I thought it was too. I checked the date of the article because I swear I read the same story about the mayor bringing in cronies, the city lawyer being left out, and the council balking... Everything reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day. I'm sure if I drive my SUV into a gravel pit tonight, I'll wake up to “I Got You Babe” tomorrow morning.

18
posted on 11/21/2012 7:40:31 PM PST
by uncommonsense
(Conservatives believe what they see; Liberals see what they believe.)

It’s like a robber putting the gun to his own head and threatening to shoot if you don’t give him all your money. From their perspective, it’s worked before, so why not?

Sounds as if city council members are upset that they’re not getting their cut of the fee to me. Might not be “legal” because staff legal counsel didn’t draw up the contract, lol?

They’re fighting about something over which they honestly have no control. All they’ve got on their side is guilt and fear of rioting, but the wheels just fell off the guilt wagon so the threat starts to look like what it’s been all along, blackmail.

The media is next. The state controlled media is having a hard time staying afloat now. Wait until ObamaCare kicks in. LOL!

Yes, it's always been a mystery to me that the media remains liberal despite their certain knowledge that liberalism breeds problems with attaining and maintaining economic prosperity. And they must know that a declining economy will affect their sales of newspapers, cable TV fees, and advertising income. Yet they continue to support liberals in politics. Go figure. Makes no sense to me.

Dave Bing represents the only semblance of sanity in this God forsaken city. Charles Pugh, former newscaster, is a complete buffoon as are the rest of the Council Members. The best thing that could happen here is that they go broke and renegotiate all the city contracts and get people who actually want to work.

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